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Tough Trio Continues Winning Ways In Wrestling Team's 33-12 Loss To Rutgers
January 05, 2008 | Wrestling
PRINCETON - The Princeton wrestling Class of 2011 made a successful home debut Saturday afternoon in the Tigers' EIWA opener against Rutgers. Victories by Tony Comunale (125) and Travis Erdman (174), along with senior heavyweight Sam Ritter, gave reasons for optimism for the Princeton faithful, but the day would belong to the Scarlet Knights. Aided by three forfeits and a trio of major decisions, Rutgers picked up its second win of the season with a 33-12 victory over Princeton at Dillon Gym.
Comunale made his home debut a short and memorable one. He was the aggressor in the opening seconds and landed the first shot, but Ryan Jablonski was able to thwart the takedown attempt and force a stalemate. Comunale was in again after the whistle and got Jablonski's right leg. The Rutgers senior fought the takedown attempt, but in the midst of an escape attempt, Comunale forced his shoulders to the mat for a sudden and stunning pin at 1:07 of the first period. The win moved Comunale to 4-0 in dual meets and 1-0 in EIWA competition.
"It was a weird scramble, and I was going for a cradle," Comunale said afterwards. "He just got stuck there, and it was a bit of a surprise to me when it was over. I would have liked to wrestle a little more, but it was out of my hands. It was a great icebreaker for my first home match. The fans and the alums were great. They really cheered for us. I'm looking forward to meeting them all."
Rutgers wouldn't trail for long. The Scarlet Knights, coming off their first win of the season Friday against Wagner, got a win from Daniel Hilt over Nikhil Pereira at 133 pounds. Pereira was able to stay neutral for a long portion of the opening period, but Hilt was finally able to earn the takedown. He added a pair of near falls to hold a 6-0 lead entering the second period. Hilt added a takedown to make it 8-0, but a game Pereira fought back with a reversal of his own to cut the score to 8-2 entering the third period. Pereira would get another reversal in the final period, but back points and riding time gave Hilt a 13-4 major decision.
Steve Adamscik, the nation's 14th-ranked 141-pounder, and Jack Barrett picked up forfeit wins to give Rutgers a 16-6 lead. At 157 pounds, Rutgers senior Jamie Lijo took early control of Aaron Casp with a takedown, a near fall and more than two minutes of riding time. Lijo added five near fall points in the second period and rode Casp the entire third period for a 12-0 victory.
The first even period of the afternoon came in the 165-pound match between Princeton junior Alex Enriquez and Rutgers junior Matt Pletcher. The two fought off each other's charges during a hard-fought first period. Pletcher chose the defensive position to open the second period and picked up an escape and takedown to grab a 3-0 lead. Despite several escape attempts late in the period, Pletcher maintained control to enter the third with his three-point advantage. Enriquez worked hard throughout the third period, but Pletcher remained too tough on top. He rode him the full two minutes to clinch a 4-0 win.
The first period of the 174-pound contest between Princeton freshman Travis Erdman and Rutgers freshman McPaul Ogbonna would be another scoreless affair, with both competitors gamely fighting off takedowns. Erdman would come the closest, but he was ruled out of bounds as he neared the advantage. Ogbonna rode Erdman for much of the second period, but Erdman's late efforts were rewarded with an escape point. Ogbonna escaped immediately in the third, tying the score at 1 and keeping his riding time edge at 1:49. Needing the takedown to win the match, Erdman got deep into Ogbonna with 30 seconds and worked it into a takedown with 16 seconds remaining. Both went out of bounds with six seconds left, but Erdman controlled the legs on the restart to clinch an exciting 3-2 win. Erdman, the reigning GoPrincetonTigers.com Athlete of the Week, has now won three straight matches.
"We do these third-period situations all the time in the room, where you're down with 30 seconds left and need a takedown, and Travis went out and did it," head coach Chris Ayres said. "I think light bulbs went on with the team when they saw that. With all the forfeits, I am just looking for moments like that, when the team starts to see that all the things we do in practice translate to the match."
Rutgers junior Lamar Brown opened the 197-pound contest with a first-period takedown of Princeton sophomore Zack Morse. Like several of his teammates, he was aggressive on top and picked up five back points in the second period. A third-period takedown and riding time gave Brown a 10-0 victory.
Senior Sam Ritter, a newcomer to the squad, made an aggressive start to his heavyweight contest and nearly took down Rutgers freshman Domenick Russo III, but Russo kept arm control to fight it off. He bounced back with a takedown of his own and held on to the advantage, although Ritter nearly pulled out a defensive pin in the waning seconds. Ritter took the late momentum into the second period with a quick reversal and two near fall points. Trailing 4-2 going into the final period, Russo chose the defensive position and came close to a pair of reversals, but Ritter had answers both times. He finally let Russo escape in the final seconds but held enough riding time to earn a 5-3 win. Like Comunale, Ritter is a perfect 4-0 in dual meets.
"He wanted that," Ayres said of his heavyweight. "He battled hard for that win."
Princeton will remain home for a tri-meet Sunday. The competition will begin at noon when Stanford takes on East Stroudsburg University. Princeton and Stanford will meet at 1:30 p.m., and Princeton and East Stroudsburg will close the day with an EIWA match at 3 p.m.
RUTGERS 33, PRINCETON 12
125 - Tony Comunale (P) p. Ryan Jablosnki 1:07 (P 6-0)
133 - Daniel Hilt (R) md. Nikhil Pereira 13-4 (P 6-4)
141 - Steve Adamscik (R) wins by forfeit (R 10-6)
149 - Jack Barrett (R) wins by forfeit (R 16-6)
157 - Jamie Lijo (R) md. Aaron Casp 12-0 (R 20-6)
165 - Matt Pletcher (R) d. Alex Enriquez 4-0 (R 23-6)
174 - Travis Erdman (P) d. McPaul Obonna 3-2 (R 23-9)
184 - Keith Dobish (R) wins by forfeit (R 29-9)
197 - Lamar Brown (R) md. Zach Morse 10-0 (R 33-9)
HWT - Sam Ritter (P) d. Domenick Russo III 5-3 (R 33-12)